Page 19 (1/1)

"Nathan?"

He didn’t turn, his eyes intent on the light of the elevator call button

I looked toward Minnie She was growling too, deeper and lower than Beverly--so deep and low that I hadelevator She and Beverly were facing the same way, down the hall, toward the other apartain, a littleto think thatthat either of us wanted to do "I think we’re about to have coaze to the end of the hall, and then looked down at the wild-eyed, growling dogs, who had taken on that stiff-legged posture characteristic of canines defending humans since the dawn of time He paled "Oh Fuck"

"I think we et there," he said slowly "One of those doors is between us and thes had seemed almost hopeful only a few seconds before, even if "hope" had been redefined on the local level to htly less bleak" Noith an unknown nu, it was difficult to ned despair "I don’t knohat to do, Nathan None of my remedial education classes covered how to escape in the le short, sharp bark that actually distracted Minnie froive hi the zombie apocalypse was an incredibly popular topic of discussion with the folks I went to college with Too bad no one ever caenetically engineered parasite variant’ I’d be the savior of the human race if they had"

I was opening my mouth to answer him when the first moan drifted around the corner at the end of the hall, followed by another, and another, until it sounded like an entiremy name--not yet, anyway Whatever half-decayed connection allowed the sleepwalkers to recognize iven the on what I was Not that awareness of our relationship would keep the nize me and still want to rip my throat out with their teeth

"Nathan…"

"I know"

We both backed up until ere pressed against the closed elevator doors, holding to the dogs’ leashes for dear life I could deal with the fact that I was probably about to die The fact that I was still weak from blood lossto see what my tapeworht of seeing the dogs ripped to pieces by the sleepwalkers The dogs could do a lot of dae before they were killed The sleepwalkers barely acknowledged pain They would win

"You know, in all ined I would die," said Nathan He sounded almost wistful "I mean, I assumed you would be there, but that it would either be one of those ‘dying in bed at the ripe old age of a hundred and twenty,accident while ere on our honeymoon"

"You surf?" I paused "Wait, honeymoon?"

"I surf," he confir you said yes when I finally got up the nerve to propose"

"If we get out of here alive, you should try it," I said

Nathan s

The first of the sleepwalkers sha toward us with slow, i, but louder now, like they still thought that they could soh volu the knives suddenly seemed like a child’s demand for a security blanket We were two people with kitchen cutlery and no training, and I was already injured All we could do with those knives was slit our orists and hope that we bled out fully before the sleepwalkers ripped us apart

"I’ot to know you," I said

"Me, too," said Nathan "Marry ainst them, and when the support suddenly left our backs, we toppled over, taking suitcases, terrarius with us as we tumbled into the elevator Luck ith us for the first time since we’d left the lab: there was no one already inside, waiting to take a bite out of our tender flesh I squeaked shrilly, surprised and disoriented Nathan scra the heel of his hand down on the door-close button I ed to sit up just in time to see the blank, emotionless faces of the sleepwalkers blocked out by the closing elevator doors

Beverly and Minnie stopped growling, their belligerence transfor to scratch her ear with her hind leg I picked e andin my chest so hard that it hurt, and for once it didn’t sound like drums at all--it sounded like the heartbeat of aits ownsquarely in thetoknife was in his hand, and his shoulders were shaking, betraying the depth of his distress It eird to realize that of the two of us, I was probably the one handling things better Then again, I was also the one as accusto turned on its head Nathan liked his routines He was used to things being just so, and even dating ed that My chaos hadn’t intruded on his daily life--not until recently, anyway